Galatasaray S.K., one of the most renowned football clubs in Turkey reportedly made revenues of 700,000 TRY (£153,000) from its esports venture last year according to Dotesports.
According to the above image, obtained by Turkish publication Hürriyet the club’s esports division is the only to turn a profit from it’s three basketball and two volleyball ventures.
However, as evident from above, Galatasaray has no costs assigned to esports and Dot suggest that this is because the Turkish club are not involved in the team maintenance at all.
The Turkish club entered esports through acquiring the spot of Victorious Ace for the Turkish Champions League and it’s safe to say that it has far from been plain sailing. The roster was chopped and changed as they looked for results in the TCL Winter Split yet after finishing the split with a record of 6-22, they finished in eighth place thus confirming their relegation from the TCL.
As a result, should Galatasaray wish to continue to compete in League of Legends they will be competing from the lower echelons and will have to fight back from the Challenger Series to regain their spot in the TCL.
It’s not particularly unusual for football teams to find themselves competing outside of the top tier when it comes to League of Legends. Paris Saint-Germain and F.C. Schalke 04 compete in the EU LCS and both narrowly missed out on the change to reach the LCS this year despite looking strong throughout the split.
There has been rumours that Schalke are going to be dropping their League of Legends team following one of their players stating that he’s entertaining offers despite being under contract, yet as of now nothing is confirmed.
Esports Insider says: Not sure what to read of these figures, but it’s good to see it brought in some revenue. There will be costs, though and they’ll likely be assigned elsewhere. It’ll be interesting to see if Gala keep their team after being relegated from the TCL.
